Real Wedding – Darren & Jennifer, Southbank VIC

November 27, 2022 In Black and White, Blue, Luxe, Real Weddings, Victoria By Ivory Tribe

Real Wedding – Darren & Jennifer, Southbank VIC

Jennifer and Darren’s dream day is a softly sophisticated affair, filled with beautifully breathtaking moments and overarching elegance.

Echoing the striking architectural features of their venue, Metropolis Events, Jenn and Darren chose sleek black styling accents softened with creamy florals, powder blue linens and contemporary candle clusters. Superstar stylists Bow Creative effortlessly wove elements of Jenn and Darren’s personal style and cultural heritage into a day that is equal parts modern magic and classic romance, with the freshest unique feels.

Florals by I Heart Flowers incorporated a sense of sophisticated whimsy into cloud-like arrangements suspended at various levels across the space. The pinnacle is an expansive blossom wave of ivory textures, bold greenery and golden highlights, perfectly echoing the amber-lit facade of historic Flinders St Station, framed in the windows behind.

Only enhancing the stunning surrounds is the electric emotion between Jenn and Darren, so obviously smitten with one another. Every sweet gaze and graceful dance floor move to the tunes of music legends The White Tree is captured through the talented lens of Kas Richards Photography. Scroll on to see every divine detail.

The meeting.

Darren and I met on our first day of Pharmacy school in 2015. We started talking and haven’t stopped since.

The ‘one’.

There wasn’t a particular moment that we knew; I would say over time, we realised we couldn’t imagine being without each other.

The proposal.

Darren proposed on my birthday in 2020. He organised for us to go on a hike near the lookout we went to on our first date. After he proposed (and I, of course, said yes), I was also surprised he had organised for all my closest friends to follow closely behind us on the walk in order to celebrate with us following the proposal.

Planning process.

Luckily, we had the help of our wedding planner/stylist Kath, from Bow Creative, by our side. She was able to recommend to us a list of vendors she knew we would work well with, which really helped us narrow down our choices. Once we booked our main vendors, we handed the reigns over to Kath for the styling and logistical side of the planning, which took a lot of the stress off us. We can’t thank her enough; she knew exactly what we wanted and what needed to be done.

Style inspiration.

We wanted a wedding that reflected our own personal style and included aspects of our cultural heritage (Vietnamese). The brief we gave our team was modern and romantic yet sophisticated, with lots of florals and foliage. We incorporated aspects of our culture into the wedding by including a traditional tea ceremony and through the food served at the reception (Asian banquet). We also drew inspiration from previous weddings held at our reception venue, Metropolis Events, and from the Ivory Tribe website.

We found wedding blogs like Ivory Tribe quite helpful in finding inspiration and researching vendors. In addition, there were also a lot of helpful tips from wedding experts that we could take on board as well.

The ceremony.

We had a traditional church ceremony that was held at the stunning Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Newman College in Parkville. We knew that we wanted to get married at this venue as soon as we found it, as it was so close to where we first met, and the architecture was simple yet striking. We also had the honour of being married by Darren’s uncle, Fr. Cao, and good friend, Fr. Andrew, on the day.

The look.

I wasn’t sure of the style I wanted at first, but I knew I wanted something modern yet timeless. I booked a few appointments with some Melbourne-based stores to get an idea of what I liked and didn’t like. I ended up finding my dream dress at Mariana Hardwick; it was a beautiful A-line gown made of haven satin twill with a feature bow in the back and a beautiful long train.

I originally didn’t plan on having a second reception dress, but I thought it would be easier for the first dance. I fell in love with a gorgeous one-shoulder slim-fitting gown from Rachel Gilbert.

Darren wanted a classic Navy suit and tie combination for him and his groomsmen. They had their suits made to measure by Institchu.

Favourite moments.

Our favourite moment of the day had to be our first dance. It was nice to have a moment together amongst the crowd, and we had a ball showing off all our hard work to our family and friends. We booked in Rosh from the Next Step Co a few weeks out from the wedding, and, we have to say, it’s one of the best decisions we made. We had so much fun working with her leading up to the wedding.

Meaning of marriage.

We believe that marriage is a union between two people who decide to enter into a personal relationship with each other to the exclusion of all else. It is a commitment to love, respect and protect each other for the rest of your lives.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Canon in D Major

Reception entry: Suit & Tie by Justin Timberlake

First dance: Lights Down Low by Max

Funny stories or near disasters.

Two days before the wedding, Jenn twisted her ankle in a fall! We were so panicked that she wouldn’t be able to walk down the aisle or let alone dance our first dance. But with a lot of rest (and painkillers), she was back on her feet on Friday afternoon for the wedding.

Planning surprises.

Our biggest surprise was the styling of the reception venue. We had left this to Kath for the most part, as we trusted her completely with our vision for the day. Despite having some idea of what the venue would look like, seeing it and our vision come to fruition for the first time took our breath away.

Words of wisdom.

Plan early, be organised and trust your vendors.

Want to diffuse the planning stress and engage the experts to help realise your dream day vision? We’ve got some of the best in the styling and planning biz, here on our directory.

DARREN & JENNIFER’S VENDORS

Ceremony venue: Chapel of the Holy Spirit, University of Melbourne

Reception venue: Metropolis Events

Officiant: Father Andrew and Father Cao

Photography: Kas Richards

Videography: Thick Black Frames

Planning and styling: Bow Creative

On the Day styling: Ruffles and Bells

Florist: I Heart Flowers

Hair and make-up: Miss Aimmey

The dresses: Mariana Hardwick and Rachel Gilbert

Veil: Mariana Hardwick